It’s festival time! There are four festivals that take place at EPCOT each year and while there are many differences between them, there are also quite a few similarities.
Topiaries in China
One thing that happens at each festival, especially on opening day are CROWDS. The Festivals tend to begin on a weekend, which typically makes the crowds a bit better than if a Festival started on a Friday (when more guests may have already arrived for their weekend trips). But that doesn’t mean EPCOT won’t get busy. So join us now for an honest look at the crowds so you know what to expect.
Now, this is a tale from the 2024 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival but we must say that this happens to us at EVERY. SINGLE. FESTIVAL. We started our morning bright and early at EPCOT to see what the Festival had to offer! When we got to the entrance, crowds were already lined up. As expected, it wasn’t the worst festival crowds at the entrance that we’ve seen, possibly because it was on a Wednesday.
Heavy crowds trying to get in!
When we got into the park, we saw a VERY long line at Creations Shop. Those Lug bags are very popular this year (And there always tends to be one piece of merch that is super popular with fans.), and people were ready to grab the festival merchandise. The line to go into the store was about 20 minutes for us when we got in it, but we guess that it got to around 45 minutes.
What do day 1 merch lines look like on a festival day? A lot like this! 🫣
We’re on our way to Creations Shop to see everything new to this year’s Flower & Garden Festival! pic.twitter.com/DeSenGrhHQ
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 28, 2024
EPCOT opened at 9AM ET to all guests, but at 8:30AM to Disney World hotel guests with the Early Theme Park Entry perk. While that 30 minutes into the park won’t necessarily help you get a head start on the food booths (many of these don’t open until World Showcase opens, around 11AM), it CAN help you get early access to some great photo opportunities in the park and (perhaps more importantly) the merchandise.
Crowds near Creations
It should be noted, that we were at EPCOT well before the Festival food booths (the main stars of the show) opened. Crowds can get much worse as the day goes on and some items sell out very quickly. So here’s our pro tip for conquering some of the crowds: GO EARLY! Getting in early and taking advantage of that Early Theme Park Entry time (if you qualify) could be key to helping you enjoy some of EPCOT with lower crowds. Or if you’re looking to shop but not going after one specific item, shopping in the evening is a good option for fewer merchandise crowds as well.
While Early Theme Park Entry or even just rope-dropping the Park won’t get you access to everything, you can walk around the open areas, see the Festival topiaries that you have access to, and potentially even grab some Festival merchandise with lower crowds.
MAKE THE MOST
OF YOUR FESTIVAL DAYS
DFB's Guide to the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival details everything you need to know to maximize your time, budget, and stomach space! Know what's worth it and what to skip with our full-photo menus of each booth, complete with DFB's Best of the Fest.
It includes all the must-have information for navigating this one of the most BEAUTIFUL festivals at Disney World, including:
- 🌸 Booth & food photos, maps, and crawls with DFB's exclusive recommendations!
- 🐝 The COMPLETE schedule of events (so you don't have to go hunting for all the dates!)
- 🌳 All the details on special events, topiaries, festival exclusive merchandise, and more!
Will you be visiting an EPCOT Festival? Let us know in the comments!
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I arrived at around 11 am this morning, went to one of the merch booths in between Future World & World Showcase to buy the majority of my merch, then waited in a 5-minute line to get into Creations Shop where I bought 2 of the Orange Bird small bags, the festival Loungefly, ears & 2 Passholder pins, all using mobile checkout. Easy peasy.
BTW, the sign on the Orange Bird Lug bag rack said 2 per person, so I bought 2.